Msimanga will lead ‘battleground’ of Gauteng, says DA

City of Tshwane Mayor Solly Msimanga during a parade before his State of the City Address outside Tshwane House on April 12, 2018 in Pretoria, South Africa.
Photo: Gallo Images / Netwerk24 / Deaan Vivier.

Solly Msimanga will lead the “battleground” of Gauteng in the 2019 elections with integrity and expertise, DA leader Mmusi Maimane said on Sunday as Msimanga was announced as the party’s candidate for premier.

“Gauteng will be a central battleground in the election campaign next year and we are confident that Solly will lead a team that will bring the change the people of Gauteng deserve,” Maimane said at a media briefing in Bruma, Johannesburg, about the selection of Msimanga, who currently serves as the mayor of Tshwane.

“Solly possesses the experience, temperament, integrity and expertise to lead the DA to victory in Gauteng.”

The announcement of Msimanga as candidate for the Gauteng premiership follows a two-day sitting of the Democratic Alliance’s Federal Executive.

Maimane described the selection process as “competitive and rigorous”.

He said that Msimanga represented “a new generation of leaders in the DA – young, charismatic, articulate, competent, and wholeheartedly committed to improving the lives of South Africans, particularly people oppressed by unemployment and poverty”.